Does Unilever hit presage a wider exodus of head office functions?

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Consumer goods giant Unilever is moving its head office from London to Rotterdam

No decision has yet been taken, insists Unilever. Yeah, right. It’s now pretty much a racing certainty that the Anglo-Dutch consumer products Goliath will opt to consolidate its head office into Rotterdam, leaving London a mere branch office. Less clear is what the CEO, Paul Polman, is planning to do with the dual listing, domicile and capital structure, but loss of the head office function is bad enough.

Some argue that it doesn’t much matter. Obviously it does, otherwise the company wouldn’t be doing it. To the extent that Britain still commands a presence on the Unilever board, the UK head office should have been much more vigorously defended.